


Just a Bit of Fun

by HerBreakingHeart



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Asexual Jughead Jones, Asexuality, Canon Compliant, Drunken Confessions, Drunken Kissing, F/M, Falling In Love, First Time, Heartbreak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 10:23:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13715673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerBreakingHeart/pseuds/HerBreakingHeart
Summary: "They don'thaveto mean anything." she declared, the confidence he knew so well returning to her demeanour. "A kiss doesn't have to be some kind of announcement of true love or whatever. It could be something just for the heck of it, something fun and…" the brunette took hold of his arm, moving it so it draped over her shoulder, leaning close. Jughead could taste the vodka on her breath as she whispered, "... and I want toproveit."





	Just a Bit of Fun

Jughead didn't know what was wrong with him.

Betty was an amazing girlfriend: she loved him, she supported him, she'd always be there for him… and yet… he found himself _missing_ her. He missed the Betty that would laugh with him, make fun of him and solve mysteries with him. Jughead wondered when it had stopped being like that and started to be something that apparently meant _more._

When Betty had started looking at him a bit too intensely, a bit too long. He'd recognised those gazes for what they were trying to convey and it had scared him. What if she found out that he didn't feel the same and they stopped being what they already were? What if being just friends wasn't enough for her anymore?

After thinking long and hard, Jughead had come to the conclusion that it wouldn't matter. They'd still be friends, just ones that occasionally kissed. They'd still love each other, he would just mean it in a different way when he said it back. _You can do this,_ Jughead reasoned with himself. _You can be with her and that way you won't have to lose her._

But when Betty started wanting more than kisses, that's when Jughead was beginning to realise what he'd gotten himself into. She'd weave her hands roughly through his hair, grind her hips against his and he'd shudder at the _wrongness_ of it all. However, Jughead would push through his discomfort and shower her with all the affection Betty apparently wanted, even if motions like caressing her skin and moaning in her ear felt foreign and forced by his body.

He knew he wouldn't be able to keep up the facade forever; soon Betty would realise that his responses were stale and she'd only get upset and angry. _Why risk that sooner?_

And then they'd broken up, hadn't gone near each other, and Jughead had missed her like _hell._ He'd missed his best friend that had always been there for him until now, and he'd vowed he would do anything to get her back. Even if it meant offering her what he knew she wanted that night in his trailer, when he'd asked her to stay and she'd fallen into his arms, hungry and desperate and _finally with him again._

His joy at her presence made it easier to pull her closer, hold her, kiss her, touch her. He took off her dress in a frenzy, stroking her skin and imagining he was somewhere else as she whined against his lips and rocked into him. He took her that night, fuelling the action with how much he craved what they used to have, hoping that it was powerful enough to be mistaken for passion. _What was **wrong** with him?_

The next morning, Betty was bothered, a worry seemingly clinging to her every move that made Jughead panic. He'd dared to ask her about it, trying not to make it obvious how insanely terrified he was at being found out. It had been both of their first times and he'd hate to think he'd ruined Betty's with his stupid way of not being able to _feel anything._

_Did we go too fast? Was it not… enjoyable?_

_Oh my god, no! Not at all!_

Ok, so he hadn't screwed up yet. All was good - at least, for now.

Fast forward 2 weeks and the core four had gotten together at Pop's, ordering beers instead of milkshakes. They were all a drunken mess, laughing heartily and yet there was an underlying tension that Jughead had painfully grown used to. He downed more alcohol to block out all the _what ifs_ and _whys_ and _what's wrong with you,_ if only to distract himself from the inevitable.

Betty sat half on him, wrapping her arms around his neck like a koala, her grip no less clingy. Her bright green eyes were fixed on Archie however, and the difference jarred Jughead. _Was it really a difference though?_ Childhood sweethearts, best friends, half in love… he couldn't compete with that. He didn't really _care_ as he should as her boyfriend, he just… Jughead felt guilty, like he was holding Betty prisoner.

He became distracted by Veronica, who sat next to Archie, not touching him. Now, _that_ was new. The haughty brunette thrived off of physical affection, as sexually confident as any teenager could be and Jughead found himself feeling envious of that. Veronica wielded her sexuality like a sleek, lethal weapon and he doubted that she'd ever felt unsure of herself in her whole life.

Except, she _did_ look unsure now, her dark eyes flitting between Betty and Archie as she sipped her drink. Her shoulders were drawn up, stiff and rigid, an embodiment of discomfort that Jughead could unbearably relate to. And then she suddenly got up, announcing in a falsely light tone, "I'm just gonna go get a bit of fresh air! These booths can get stuffy as hell!"

Archie looked up in concern, a moment of clarity, "You sure, Ronnie? I can-"

"I'm fine, Archiekins." she interrupted gently with a tight lipped smile, "Just try and save some drinks for me!" Veronica winked and then walked out, her heels clacking brittlely against the floor. The sound sent a chill down Jughead's spine but his companions seemed to have swiftly forgotten, with Betty leaning forward to laugh at something Archie had said. He tried not to hold it against them: they were _all_ very drunk and not entirely aware of their surroundings.

But as he turned to look out of the window and saw Veronica's silhouette by the lampost, he felt a certain sense of responsibility. Her boyfriend and best friend were off their heads, careless and happy, so that left… _You._

"I'm gonna go out for a bit too, actually." Jughead heard himself saying, "Be mature, kids."

As he started to get up, Betty turned to him with confusion in her eyes and… _alarm._ As if she didn't trust herself without him. As if without his presence, she'd do something that would call for panic. His calculating gaze turned to Archie, his red hair practically glowing under Pop's lights. _Of course._

"Why though, Juggie?" she complained, grabbing onto his arm. "Everyone's leaving and I wanted us all to have a good _timmme!"_

"And we will," he assured her, carefully taking her hand off him so he could get out of the booth, "You still have Archie, right Betty?" She looked even more worried at that but didn't argue.

"Yeah, Betty, you still got stupid old me!" Archie chuckled and Jughead's girlfriend couldn't resist a giggle. As they both reverted back to their laughing drunk selves, Jughead slipped away unnoticed, making a beeline for the lonely brunette out in the night.

She didn't react as he shut the door behind him, or tense as he slowly moved to stand next to her, not daring to be close enough to touch. Veronica was detached from the rest of the world in that moment, Jughead felt, her skin emitting an ethereal kind of glow underneath the moonlight. He couldn't help but feel alarmed as a single tear traced down her cheek, unsure of how to comfort her.

"I should've seen it coming." the brunette suddenly said, a bitter laugh escaping her, "Archie and Betty, soulmates until death does them part."

Jughead knew then that him and Veronica were much more similar than he would've cared to admit before. _We share a lot in common._ Both of them were clinging to a relationship doomed to fail before their eyes, for different reasons of course, and yet strikingly casting the same reflection: two drifters outside of Pop's, watching their other halves fall deeper in love with each other.

"Inevitable." he found himself saying, "But we can't help our part in it."

She turned to him at that, incredulity in her eyes, "How can you be so ok with this? You _love_ Betty, and there she is mooning over Archie like she's done from day _one!"_ Veronica's voice cracked at the last word, her arm faltering in an half hearted gesture at the redhead and blonde framed in the window, completely oblivious to the dark pair.

"I _do_ love her." Jughead confirmed truthfully, "But… not in the way everyone thinks. Not in the way _she_ thinks." His confession, finally said out loud, sent a wave of relief spreading through him. The lies and deceit could at last be brought to light, if only for this night he would share with Veronica.

Her lips parted in shock, her gaze wandering between him and Pop's. "You're… you're not _in_ love with her?"

After a few seconds, he shook his head sadly. Before Veronica could say anything else, he quickly cut in, "I know it makes me selfish, undeniably so, but I never intended for it to be dragged out as long as it has been. I just don't want to hurt her…" he paused, shame colouring his cheeks, "And I don't want to lose my best friend."

The brunette watched him carefully and then quietly whispered, "Do you know about the kiss they shared? On the night the Black Hood was killed?" He shook his head, the news coming as no surprise to him. Veronica's jaw tightened. "I can't stop imagining it. Ever since Archie told me, _apologised_ to me, I've tried thinking of endless excuses. The heat of the moment kinda thing, right? Spontaneous desire?"

Jughead tutted, "Archie cares about you a lot, Ronnie." The nickname tasted foreign on his tongue but he liked how it suggested the shaky familiarity they were discovering. "There's no denying that."

The brunette scoffed, "Are you sure? Because everytime he says he loves me, I keep thinking of him saying it to Betty in that _damned_ car." Tears were uncontrollably running down her face now. "She didn't even tell you, Jughead. What does _that_ say?"

He waited patiently for Veronica to collect herself, knowing that she would hate how vulnerable she was currently being. Her tone was less hysterical, a false aura of calm, "It meant something. And there's no denying _that."_

Jughead paused, unsure of how what he was about to say would be taken, "Do you love him?" She faced him sharply, eyes narrowed in defense, her mouth opening to unleash a torrent of abuse and disbelief and then… nothing. She stood in front of him, his words filling the heavy silence between them. Veronica was frozen, her expression melting to one of uncertainty and staying there.

"I… I…" she swallowed thickly, her wary gaze rarely meeting Jughead's eyes. A forced chuckle betrayed her, "I don't even _know_ anymore. I thought I did, until… right now, actually."

The serpent nodded, understanding her turmoil, her desperate inner struggle. "We're teenagers. We're all fucked up in this department some way or another." He tried for a wry grin, feeling relieved as Veronica gave him a real laugh.

"I suppose so, Jones." She broke their shared gaze to look at Betty and Archie once more, a look of wistful longing but also a firm realisation. "I must've felt us falling apart." she confided slowly, "It's been happening for a while but I didn't want to admit it until Archie came and told me… the fact that a single kiss could freak me out as much as it did, I mean- kisses are _kisses,_ they rarely mean anything…"

She faltered off, turning to Jughead, a new kind of realisation within her now, though he couldn't guess what. When she stepped closer, Jughead blinked in confusion, his arm reaching out to stop her. "Veronica, what are you-"

"They don't _have_ to mean anything." she declared, the confidence he knew so well returning to her demeanour. "A kiss doesn't have to be some kind of announcement of true love or whatever. It could be something just for the heck of it, something fun and…" the brunette took hold of his arm, moving it so it draped over her shoulder, leaning close. Jughead could taste the vodka on her breath as she whispered, "... and I want to _prove_ it."

"Ronnie," he tried desperately, finding himself unable to move away as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him even _closer…_ "Ronnie, you're gonna regret this like hell once we're both sober. You don't need to-"

"No." she agreed, her eyes sparkling at him, "But I _want_ to." And with that, she pulled him the rest of the way and their lips met in a single, searing kiss. At first, Jughead couldn't respond, unsure of _how_ to. This was his first kiss that wasn't an outright lie, that didn't need a show of over the top desire and affection. And then Veronica's hands stroked the nape of his neck, her tongue teasingly tracing the seam of his mouth and he finally _relented._

When he opened his lips, allowing her entry, Veronica moaned in delight, kissing him until they were both breathless and needed to stop for air. They broke apart with an excited laugh, high on the moment until suddenly they stopped laughing and realised what had happened. Jughead looked down at her, his lips still tingling, and the brunette looked back, a pink blush making her cheeks glow.

His gaze dropped to her mouth, swollen and inviting, and found he wanted to kiss her again. _Just for the fun of it. Maybe._

Veronica shivered, her hands slowly withdrawing from where they'd been resting against his arms. "Um…" she tried, still breathing hard, "That was…"

"Fun?" he supplied, forcing a smile though they were both unconvinced by it.

"Yeah, fun…" she echoed, now looking anywhere but his face. "We should, um, go join the others." She added pointedly.

"Of course. Let's go join the others." The moment the words left his mouth, Jughead wanted to groan in irritation. Repeating her words like a simpleton, damn him. Thank god she'd already turned away, walking back up to Pop's like nothing had happened.

And nothing _had_ happened, he reminded himself firmly. Just a bit of fun.

_A kiss doesn't have to be some kind of announcement of true love or whatever._ Veronica was right. And they'd just proved that.

Without another word, Jughead followed her back inside.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a shaky kind of relationship with Riverdale. The writing can sometimes be completely off, storylines completely ridiculous, problematic areas etc... and of course, the relationships they desperately want me to support. No offence to anyone that does, but I just _can't_ ship Bughead and Varchie. In my opinion, neither has enough depth or chemistry and I strongly believe that the show should do a 180 and explore Barchie and Vughead instead. (I prefer Jeronica but whatever) 
> 
> Barchie is obvious - childhood sweethearts, ultimate slowburn endgame kinda thing. I adore their scenes together and I love the cute dynamic they have.   
> Vughead is sorely under appreciated by the show writers. I would love to see an amazing friendship between these two, preferably before a romance, because I believe they have the chance of becoming an amazing duo together. They're the definition of a missed opportunity and I think that if they were given the chance of sharing more screen time together, the idea of them becoming a thing wouldn't be so unappealing to people. 
> 
> Obviously, I'm very much excited for the next episode after seeing the promo that hinted at a Vughead kiss. Here's hoping they go down the interesting route and delve into this dynamic, allowing Barchie to share time together also. Probably not, since Riverdale seems to love drama for the sake of drama rather than intriguing, developed storylines but whatever. 
> 
> Finally, Jughead Jones. I'm forever sad that they ripped his sexuality away with him, so whatever Riverdale fic I write, he will _always_ be asexual. 
> 
> Leave a comment if you enjoyed, I love reading them! :)


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